HOPE

Journey through Advent with Heather

Week One: HOPE

Losing hope is tough. I’ve been there-even as a believer. I’ve hit rock bottom and felt like I could not take another breath as my heart was crushed. I’ve been numb. I’ve felt alone in a room full of people. I’ve been alive on the outside but dead on the inside. The enemy wants you to buy into his lies that God has abandoned you and that you can’t face what is in front of you. Accepting Jesus does not spare us from the troubles of life. In fact many times troubles increase because there are spiritual forces of darkness and demons assigned to thwart Jesus’ claim on you. When we listen to the enemy’s lies, we give permission for him to operate. As a believer you have the authority to claim the blood of Jesus to bind every form of darkness that tries to place chains on you! No matter the sin, addiction, stronghold, your past, things done to you or against you, things you’ve done to others- Our God is a chain breaker. He desires for you to live FREE today, not just wait on it. HOPE is here right now at this moment with you! And I can assure you His goodness will overwhelm you when you surrender fully to Him. We don’t have to live in a state of suffering or even surviving. He desires good things for those that love Him!

I’m not diminishing that life can be quite uncomfortable, grief, pain, and loss is very real. No one is spared from the ebb and flow of seasons of life. The obstacles and circumstances may differ for us individually, culturally and socio-economically. I’ve found that HOPE is universal and eternal. No matter where I’ve been across the globe, I’ve found people with similar stories of HOPE. They met a person-one who changed their life-who showed them compassion, mercy, love and faithfulness. They’ve met this chain breaker and experienced HOPE! They live with joy and peace that is beyond understanding because His presence dwells with them. True hope is not a feeling-it is truth. HOPE has a name and it’s Jesus. He is our eternal hope and if we can understand and grasp Emmanuel we will never truly lose all hope.

Christmas is the season of HOPE. For many it is difficult, I get it. There are some like myself who are far from family or who have lost family and friends close to them. Christmas is a “family” season. If your family is missing someone or it’s broken, I know it can be a painful reminder but let me share some HOPE. If you are hurting, your family is broken or you are broken individually- HOPE is ready and willing to come in and restore all that has been stolen or lost. HOPE has not abandoned YOU! He sees you as an individual not a speck somewhere on this spinning globe. I don’t know where you stand in your relationship with God. I’ve known Him for almost 35 years and there have been seasons of silence, times when I could not face Him because of my own disappointment in Him and myself because I chose my ways over His. I can assure He is real! He is alive and there is HOPE! He never left me and He will never leave you. He is relentless in pursuit of your heart. He desires to live in you and with you! He is light in the darkness. If there is darkness in you and around you- His light is greater!

His power is available to overcome anything you are facing. You are not alone. There are many like me who have met HOPE and His presence is in us and with us and we wait on His promises to come. It was never His intention to be separated from us. He created us with free will, even to love Him. When sin entered the world through the choice of Adam and Eve- He came through with a plan of redemption because He loves us so much. That plan of redemption was to send His son JESUS to be born of a virgin named Mary. Matthew 1:23-“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”

It took a blood sacrifice. Jesus came as God in the flesh- a pure and perfect sacrifice and His blood was spilled for the covering of our sins through his death on the cross. His blood was placed on the mercy seat in place of what we deserved. The mercy seat was an important part of the tabernacle, which was a tent the Israelites carried with them through the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. Part of the tabernacle included a place called the holy of holies. The ark of the covenant was also in this place and it was where the presence of God dwelt. On top of the ark of the covenant was the mercy seat. There was a veil that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the tabernacle. The Israelites would give pure animals to the priests to be sacrificed in appropriation for their sins. Only the high priest was able to go before God to present these sacrifices. In fact if the priest was not right with God, the very presence of God would consume him. Jesus came as our High Priest, the permanent sacrifice and when he died on the cross the veil in the temple was torn into! Matthew 27:50-51 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Have you encountered HOPE, Emmanuel?

Do you believe that God will come through for YOU?

Patiently and expectantly WAIT on HIS promises!

Are you willing to keep believing and loving HIM even when things don’t get better?

Do you believe that HE lives in you and through you?

Although darkness may surround us, Emmanuel is our light. He lives in us and with us. He is-God with us!

Meditate on these promises, declare them over yourself and your family!

John 14:15-20 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Revelation 21:3-4 says “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,[b] and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

There are many throughout the Bible who lost their hope. The Israelites experienced God’s goodness yet were greatly tested. Their disobedience in some things made their journey longer. The Messiah was promised and He came! More importantly, He is with us!

Choose HOPE today.

If your heart is hurting, allow HOPE to enter and drive away all darkness. I love the lyrics to the Christmas hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” . I've included them at the end of this study.

We turn our eyes to Jesus, the one who has the authority to claim our hearts for all eternity, the one who offers us true hope, love, joy and peace!

Romans 15: 12-13 “ And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

***

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

We light our HOPE candle to remind us that Emmanuel is with us and His light shines through the darkness. That God promised us a Messiah and that promise was fulfilled. He is our eternal HOPE-and we rejoice as we wait expectantly for His final victory over darkness.

Worship Hymn:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel;

That mourns in lonely exile here,

Until the Son of God appears.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free

Thine own from Satan's tyranny;

From depths of hell Thy people save,

And give them victory o'er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer,

Our Spirits by Thine Advent here;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

And death's dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come

And open wide our heavenly home;

Make safe the way that leads on high,

And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, thou Lord of Might

Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,

In ancient times didst give the law,

In cloud, and majesty, and awe.